EU budget rejected by the European Court of Auditors – again

For the fourteenth year in a row, the European Court of Auditors has refused to certify the EU budget. Not that anyone seems to care. Even in Britain, people are responding with a shrug so dismissive as to be downright Gallic. Yep, the EU is corrupt: et alors?

I have blogged before about our indifference to Euro-fraud and about how, strangely enough, I find hope in our cynicism. Think of it as a marriage. So long as there is bickering, the relationship is alive: each partner cares enough about the other's point of view to want to change it. But when the arguments give way to indifference, the plate-throwing to scorn, the rows to contempt, the marriage is over. If, as a people, we have given up on any hope of reforming the EU then, in our hearts, we have already determined on separation.

Still, I wouldn't want you turn away from this blog without feeling even a spark of anger. So please have a look at this list (hat tip, Open Europe) of the top 100 scams that have been funded by your money over the past year.

A final observation. Britain is the second-largest net contributor to the EU budget after Germany. If we withheld our subs, we'd have enough to give the entire country a two-thirds reduction in council tax. With all three parties now scratching around for tax-cuts, I thought that might be worth mentioning.